Avoid scrolling when switch buffers
When switching buffers using the Ctrl-^ and :bp commands, Vim will keep the cursor on the line number where it was before switching the buffer but it might change the position of the current line relative to the screen. For example, the cursor may be in line 1234 of the file, with that line at the top of the screen. The user may switch to another buffer, then switch back (:bn :bp), and find that the current line has been repositioned to the middle of the screen. If the line number is restored correctly, but the shift in screen view is bothersome, add the following to the .vimrc file to restore the screen view correctly: " Save current view settings on a per-window, per-buffer basis. function! AutoSaveWinView() if !exists("w:SavedBufView") let w:SavedBufView = {} endif let w:SavedBufViewbufnr("%") = winsaveview() endfunction " Restore current view settings. function! AutoRestoreWinView() let buf = bufnr("%") if exists("w:SavedBufView") && has_key(w:SavedBufView, buf) let v = winsaveview() let atStartOfFile = v.lnum 1 && v.col 0 if atStartOfFile && !&diff call winrestview(w:SavedBufViewbuf) endif unlet w:SavedBufViewbuf endif endfunction " When switching buffers, preserve window view. if v:version >= 700 autocmd BufLeave * call AutoSaveWinView() autocmd BufEnter * call AutoRestoreWinView() endif The above logic works around a couple of issues with the simpler original logic below. First, the view is restored only when the cursor is at start-of-file during the BufEnter event. This prevents old saved settings from overriding a newly selected cursor position when the user scrolls an inactive window with the mouse wheel and clicks in that inactive window. When switching buffers within one window, Vim first sets the cursor position to the start of the file, then fires a BufEnter event; afterward, if no autocmd has changed the cursor position, Vim restores the cursor position based on values saved in its internal data structures. In contrast, when switching to another window the cursor position is not forced to the start of the file; this includes the case when the user scrolls and clicks with the mouse. The logic in AutoRestoreWinView() therefore restores the view only when the cursor is at start-of-file. Secondly, the view settings are stored on a per-buffer, per-window basis, allow the user to maintain two independent cursor positions for one buffer displayed in two windows. Here is the original logic for historical reference: " When switching buffers, preserve window view. if v:version >= 700 au BufLeave * if !&diff | let b:winview = winsaveview() | endif au BufEnter * if exists('b:winview') && !&diff | call winrestview(b:winview) | unlet! b:winview | endif endif Alternatively a user can :set scrolloff=999 which keeps the current line vertically centered. See also * *VimTip80 * * Comments Removed stale b:winview to avoid bugs as the one reported in snipmate. - May 29, 2014 As noted by JohnBackett the autocommands should not be run in diff mode, this is accomplished with the "&diff" if test - Sep 21, 2012 This tip results in a display bug that hasn't been patched yet, and there's no mention of a vimscript workaround. - Sep 21, 2012 I had some weirdness with this. But after renaming the var it worked fine! - Jun 30, 2014